French Bread: Easy Recipe

A quick post today on one of the easiest but also one of the best French breads you’ll ever have.

There are just four ingredients in this bread, if you don’t count the water: flour, yeast, salt and sugar. I don’t make this bread whole-grain because that would interfere with the deliciously soft texture which makes it a real treat. If you want a great whole-wheat French bread, try this recipe that I posted a while ago. It’s also delicious and you’ve got the additional nutrition punch. Or try this foolproof whole-wheat French bread recipe with step-by-step pictures– you can’t miss.

But for a busy weekend day when I want great, fresh bread for dinner, the one I’m posting today’s an absolute winner.

Gotta go now, but a quick nudge to send in your recipes for It’s A Vegan World: British. The deadline is July 31. I know it’s a bit of a challenge, but hey– which true cook can resist a challenge? I’ve already got some great entries, but I really, really would love some more, so hurry please!

About Vaishali Honawar

Comments

Hi, This is the way I make French Bread,too! It’s so simple and oh so delicious…and fills the house with a wonderful fresh baked bread aroma!! Yours looks so good, I think I have to bake some French Bread right now!Peace, StephaniePS I blogged about your Navratan Kurma…thanks!

Wow! Never knew it was so simple to make French bread. Will try it as soon as I come back from my vacation. No wait, i got to try the sandwich bread first but before that the ladi pav… You get my drift

Considering the short list of ingredients … and that awesome looking bread, am tempted to try this. Just a few questions Vaishali … 450 degrees C/F? Do we bake in the same temperature or do we decrease it? I don’t have any tiles … can I use my baking tray? And am afraid to spray water in my electric oven.

This was my first attempt at baking yeast bread ever. And it turned out perfectly! Crusty & delicious! Could not have been easier.My husband came home from work, saw the loaves, and thought I bought them. YES!I haven’t had such delicious bread since living in NY as a little girl. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!

I just discovered your blog and am I glad I did! This was my first attempt at making bread (EVER) and it turned out absolutely wonderful! Thank you so much for this recipe and I really look forward to browsing your recipe page and trying some more!

Hi vaishali, this is my first attempt in making a bread.. halfway to it.. but the outcome does not look promising.. I wanted to make a loaf hence halved the quantities of all ingredients.. However, after I add flour and other ingredients, the dough seemed too watery. I let it rest for 2 hours. Dough has risen but still too watery and sticky (I compared with your dough in step by step Whole grain bread recipe). I have now let it rest for 1.5 hrs as suggested, covering it with kitchen towel. But the dough is badly sticking to the towel. Where have I missed? Any idea why my dough is watery? If I halve the ingredients quantities, should the rising time for the dough should also be halved? Too many questions, but badly need the answers… Thanks a ton in advance

Aparna, With 3 1/2 cups of flour and 1 1/2 cups of water you should not get a sticky dough. Did you remember to halve the water when you halved the flour?You could add more flour to make your dough less sticky, but since your dough has already gone through the rise it could be too late. I’d advise starting over, and next time be really careful about measuring because that’s key with bread.And no, the rise time won’t halve if you halve the recipe. It remains the same.

When do you make the gashes? A trivial question, since it’s for appearance only, but I tried last time when the loafs were about to go into the oven, and could tell it was going to smash them down too much if I tried then. Should I do it right after I roll both loafs out, before they begin to rise at all? Thanks!

Make the gashes with a very sharp or serrated knife right before you put the loaves in the oven. Use a quick motion to make the cut and don’t use a dull knife or sawing motion because you’ll deflate the loaves.

Either the yeast you’re using is not active, or the water you’re adding is too hot. You might be letting it rise too long or too little.Finally, if you made gashes, did you deflate the bread at the time?

This is my first attempt at home made bread. I added the dry to the wet and only got about 2c flour in before I needed to knead it. I kneaded in another 1/2c but the dough was very dry. I decided not to add any more flour and let it rise. After rising, the dough was tough and gummy. It’s on its second rise now. Should I even bother cooking it with how tough it is?

Are you baking in very dry weather? That could explain why you got only 2 cups of flour in. Since this is your first time baking bread, you likely don’t have a feel yet for how the dough should look and feel. I don’t know what you mean by gummy, especially since you’re saying it’s also tough, but if the dough rose that is a good sign.

terrific instructions! thank you so much — i am usually better at flatbreads than risen breads. but this one turned out beautifully! everybody raved when i sliced it up and made vegan garlic bread with homemade vegan ‘butter’. !

Wow. I did everything wrong and it still turned out the be the best French bread I have ever eaten from anywhere. The bread is soft and the outside is perfectly crusty. I didn’t have enough ingredients so I halved everything; I got pulled in several directions and overshot the last rise time by hours and the rise had started to fall; forgot to cut the diagonal lines; and then I forgot to set the timer so I was guessing at how long it had been in the oven. Still: perfect bread. I’m back from the store now with all the ingredients I will need for a long time!